is a popular example of modern Okinawan cuisine. It consists of

taco A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of filli ...

-flavored ground beef served on a bed of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

, frequently served with shredded

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During product ...

, shredded

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of foo ...

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word , ...

and salsa. Charlie's Tacos, serving tacos in shells made from rice flour, had been established in 1956 as the first "taco place" on Okinawa. Taco rice was created in 1984 by Matsuzo Gibo and introduced at two of his cafes, Parlor Senri and King Tacos, located just a minute from the main gate of

Camp Hansen Camp Hansen is a United States Marine Corps base located in Okinawa, Japan. The camp is situated in the town of Kin, near the northern shore of Kin Bay, and is the second-northernmost major installation on Okinawa, with Camp Schwab to the nor ...

Kin, Okinawa is a town located in Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. In October 2016, the town had an estimated population of 11,259 and a density of 300 persons per km2. The total area of Kin is . 59% of the land area of Kin remains under contr ...

. Taco rice is a popular dish among U.S. military personnel stationed in Okinawa as lunch or late night food.

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

put it on their menu throughout Japan for a time during the 1990s and

Yoshinoya is a Japanese multinational company, multinational fast food chain, and the second-largest chain of ''gyūdon'' (beef bowl) restaurants. The chain was established in Japan in 1899. Its motto is "Tasty, low-priced, and quick". Etymology and logo ...

, a nationwide

gyūdon , also known as , is a Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with ''dashi'' (fish and seaweed stock), soy sauce and ''mirin'' (sweet rice wine). It may sometimes also be ...

restaurant, serves it in the chain's restaurants in Okinawa prefecture. In addition,

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, incl ...

offers it as a menu option at the chain's restaurant in the

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

district of Tokyo. The

Tex-Mex Tex-Mex cuisine (from the words ''Texan'' and ''Mexican'') is an American cuisine that derives from the culinary creations of the ''Tejano'' people of Texas. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern United ...

flavor is sometimes replaced by the use of soy sauce,

mirin is a type of rice wine and a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. It is similar to sake but with a lower alcohol content and higher sugar content. The sugar content is a complex carbohydrate that forms naturally during the fermentation pro ...

and

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and ind ...

. Occasionally it is served with rice in a

tortilla A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indigenous peoples of M ...

roll.

References

{{commons category, Taco rice Japanese rice dishes Okinawan cuisine Mexican fusion cuisine Japanese fusion cuisine